Protective device for safes and the like



March 7, 1961 H. c. MARTIN PROTECTIVE DEVICE FOR SAFES AND THE LIKE Filed April 29, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig./

Howard 0. Martin BY 4 fi ATTO EY March 7, 1961 H. c. MARTIN PROTECTIVE DEVICE FOR SAFES AND THE LIKE Filed April 29, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 4

IN VENTOR Howard C. Martin United States Patent PROTECTIVE DEVICE FOR SAFES AND THE LIKE Howard C. Martin, Box 685, Kilgore, Tex.

Filed Apr. 29, 1958, Ser'. No. 731,796

3 Claims. (Cl. 109-34) The present invention relates to a protective device for safes and the like and has for an object the provision of a device of this kind for protecting buildings, safes, strong boxes, machines or anything protected by 'a lock against unlawful breaking into or entering by an unauthorized person.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a protective device of this character applicable to a lock so that the forcing of the lock by an unauthorized person will result in the release of a poisonous or noxious gas which will deter the intruder from unauthorized access to the locked object.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a device of this type which can be applied not only to lock carrying devices under construction but also to such devices already in service without modifying their structure.

The present invention aims to provide a protective de- I vice which can be attached to the locking bar or cylinder of a convention-a1 type lock and move therewith to prevent its operation when the lock is actuated by an authorized person but will be set into operation when the lock is forced open.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention will be more fully described hereinafter, and will be more particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

In the drawings, wherein like symbols refer to like or corresponding parts throughout the several views:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of a safe showing a protective device constructed in ac cordance with the present invention applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a sectional view on the line 22 of Figure 1; t

Figure 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a sectional view on the line 44 of Figure 3, and

Figure 5 is an enlarged exploded perspective view of the protective device and the lock to which it is adapted to be applied.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 10 generally indicates a protective device applied to a locking "member or bar 11 of a conventional lock 12 which is mounted on a door 13 masking a doorway 14 of a re- -ceptacle generally indicated at 15 and which may be a building, safe, machine or any other element protected by a lock.

The protective device 10 comprises a first cylindrical or hollow member 16, a container 17 for holding a conventional poisonous or noxious gas and a second cylindrical or hollow member 18. The member 16 has a closed end 19 and an open end 20 adjacent to which securing or anchoring plate 21 is formed integrally with or secured to one wall of the member 16 in any suitable manner. The plate 21 extends laterally beyond the opposite sides of the member 16 as indicated at 22 and the extended portions 22 are provided with elongated 2,973,726 Patented Mar. 7, 1961 F ice slots 23. Adjacent its open end 20 the member 16 has secured thereto a tongue 24. The tongue 24 is arcuate shaped in cross section and when the cylinder 16 is made of metal the tongue 24 can be secured thereto by welding 25 or the like. The cylinder 16 can also be made of plastic or other suitable material in which case the tongue 24 is molded integrally with the cylinder or may be secured thereto by a suitable adhesive. The tongue 24 extends beyond the open end 20 of the member 16 for a substantial distance.

. The container 17 comprises a cylinder of frangible material, such as glass which is filled with a noxious or poisonous gas and has its opposite ends 26 sealed closed. Adjacent its longitudinal center the container 17 is provided with a score line or line of weakness 27 which extends around the entire outer circumference of the cylinder 17.

The second cylindrical or hollow member 18 may be made of metal, plastic or other suitable material and has a closed end 28 and an open end 29. A sleeve 30 encircles the member 18 and has one end thereof substantially flush with the open end 29 of the member 18. If the member 18 is made of metal the sleeve 30 will also be made of metal or it may be made of plastic if the member 18 is of plastic. The sleeve 30 is secured to the outer face of the member 18 in any conventional manner such as by sweating it on or by the use of a suitable adhesive. The sleeve 30 is provided with a portion 31 which stands proud or spaced from the outer surface of the member 18 to define a slot or space 32 which is of substantially the same size and shape as the tongue 24 and which is adapted to receive frictionally therein a portion of the tongue 24 for releasably holding the members 16 and 18 together.

On one side the doorway 14 of the receptacle 15 is defined by a jamb 33 and on its opposite side by a second jamb 34 to which the door 13 is movably connected as by hinges 35 of a conventional type and only one of which is illustrated in the drawings.

The container 17 will be 'filled with a noxious 0.1 poisonous gas or gases after one end 26 is sealed and the opposite end 26 will then be sealed to prevent the escape of the gases. The container 17 will then be in 'serted into one of the members 16 and 18 and the other member will then be placed over the exposed end portion of the container 17. The members 16 and 18 will be assembled over the container 17 so. that the extended end portion of the tongue 24 will be received by the slot 32 of the sleeve .30 so that the three members 16, 17 and 18 are releasably held in assembled position. If desired,

as asafety and utility feature, a conventional snap or locking device can be mounted on the members 16 and 18 to hold the two members and the container 17 in properly assembled position.

In the use of the device the anchor plate 21 will be brought into contact with the locking member 11 so that the apertures or slots 23 are brought into registry with apertures 36 formed in the locking bar 11. Fastening elements 37 which may be in the form of bolts are inserted through the aligned apertures 23 and 36 and are secured in place by nuts 38. It will be noted that the securing plate 21 is attached to the member 16 at a point substantially diametrically opposed to the point of attachment of the tongue 24 to the member 16 so that the tongue 24 and the slot 32 may be brought into alignment without any interference from the locking bar 11.

When the door 13 is in its masking position shown in full lines in Figures 1, 2 and 4, and the lock 12 is in its locked position the locking bar 11 will be in engagement with the inner face of the jamb 33 and the protective device 10 will have its member 18 and that portion of thecon-tainer 17 which is enclosed within the member indicated in Figures 1, 2 and 4.

18 disposed inwardly of and in alignment with the jamb 33. If an authorized person wishes to gain access to the interior of the receptacle 15, he will unlock the lock 12 by use of a suitable key or the like so that the locking bar 11 and the protective device will be swung to the vertical dotted line position indicated in Figure 1 of the drawings.

7 It will be noted when the locking bar and the protective device are swung to this vertical position they will be clear of the jamb 33 and the door 13 can be easily opened without disturbing the protective device. The door 13 can then be swung to its masking position and the lock 12 again locked so as to bring the locking bar and the protective device into the full line position If an unauthorized person attempts to force the door 13 open by moving it to the dotted line position indicated in Figure 2 without unlocking the lock 12, the locking bar 11 will be bent or deformed thus displacing the second member 18 and bending or deforming the tongue 24 and causing the container 17 to break along the score line 27 thereby separating the member 18 from the member 16 to permit the liberated gases 39 to permeate the surrounding atmosphere and either drive the unauthorized person away or rrender him unconscious.

It will be noted that the lengths of the members 16 and 18 are so related to the length of the container 17 and the score line 27 that when the parts are assembled the score line 27 will coincide with the abutting open ends of the members 16 and 18 so as not to interfere with the breaking of the container 17 along the score line 27 when the door 13 is forced open by an unauthorized person. A new lock 12 and locking bar 11 will then be applied to the door 13 and a new protective device 10 will be mounted on the locking bar 11 as previcomprising approximately aligned sections separable from each other at inner ends thereof for reception and discard of a frangible protective cartridge, a tongue on one of said sections projecting beyond its inner end, means to releasably secure said tongue to the adjacent section, said inner ends being substantially in a plane crossing 'said locking member, said locking member being disposable in closed position in overlapping relation to a door jamb in order that unauthorized movement of the door with the container so disposed will displace a part of said locking member which in turn will disrupt said cartridge to release the protective contents of the latter.

2. In combination, a closure having a lock mechanism thereon, and an associated jamb; the lock mechanism having a locking member movable through actuation of the lock mechanism from open to closed positions, a container carried by said member and movable therewith from said open to closed positions, said container being in separable approximately aligned sections meeting in a plane crossing said locking member, said sections having openings facing each other to facilitate insertion and discard of a frangible protective cartridge of a length to bridge the junction of said sections, a tongue on one of said sections projecting across said plane toward another section, means to detachably secure said tongue to said another section, said plane being approximately that of the junction of the closure and its jamb so that unauthorized movement of the closure crosswise of the jamb will displace a part of said locking member which in turn will disrupt said cartridge to release the protective contents of the latter.

3. The combination with a member having a doorway defined by a jamb and masked by a door provided with locking means including an apertured locking bar movable into and out of engagement with the jamb, of a protective device comprising a first hollow member, an anchoring plate on said member and having its opposite end portions apertured and extending beyond the member, fastening means extending through the apertures in the plate and locking bar to secure the member to the locking bar for movement therewith, a noxious gas container having a score line therearound, a second hollow member cooperating with said first hollow member to house and support said container, said first hollow member having a tongue secured to and extending therefrom, a sleeve secured to and around and spaced from the second hollow member to provide a socket of substantially the same size and shape as the tongue for frictionally receiving the tongue to interlock the hollow members together around the container with the tongue in overlapping supporting engagement with the score line of the container, said hollow members and container moving with the locking bar to clear the jamb when the locking means is opened and the door moved to its unmasking position by an authorized person but when the door is forcibly moved to its unmasking position by an unauthorized person the hollow members and container being brought into engagement with the jamb with sufi"1-- cient force to deform the locking bar and tongue and to break the container along its score line to liberate the noxious gas so that the unauthorized person will be driven away or rendered unconscious.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,405,641 Ullman n 'Feb. 7, 1922 1,758,096 Walsh May 13, 1930 2,306,358 Kimsey Dec. 22, 1942 2,541,563 Walsh Feb. 13, 1951 

